Privacy Policy

1. An overview of data protection

General

The following gives a simple overview of what happens to your personal information when you visit our website. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. Detailed information on the subject of data protection can be found in our privacy policy found below.

Data collection on our website

Who is responsible for the data collection on this website?

The data collected on this website are processed by the website operator. The operator’s contact details can be found in the website’s required legal notice.

How do we collect your data?

Some data are collected when you provide it to us. This could, for example, be data you enter on a contact form.

Other data are collected automatically by our IT systems when you visit the website. These data are primarily technical data such as the browser and operating system you are using or when you accessed the page. These data are collected automatically as soon as you enter our website.

What do we use your data for?

Part of the data is collected to ensure the proper functioning of the website. Other data can be used to analyze how visitors use the site.

What rights do you have regarding your data?

You always have the right to request information about your stored data, its origin, its recipients, and the purpose of its collection at no charge. You also have the right to request that it be corrected, blocked, or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in the legal notice if you have further questions about the issue of privacy and data protection. You may also, of course, file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities.

Analytics and third-party tools

When visiting our website, statistical analyses may be made of your surfing behavior. This happens primarily using cookies and analytics. The analysis of your surfing behavior is usually anonymous, i.e. we will not be able to identify you from this data. You can object to this analysis or prevent it by not using certain tools. Detailed information can be found in the following privacy policy.

You can object to this analysis. We will inform you below about how to exercise your options in this regard.

2. General information and mandatory information

Data protection

The operators of this website take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data as confidential and in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy policy.

If you use this website, various pieces of personal data will be collected. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. This privacy policy explains what information we collect and what we use it for. It also explains how and for what purpose this happens.

Please note that data transmitted via the internet (e.g. via email communication) may be subject to security breaches. Complete protection of your data from third-party access is not possible.

Notice concerning the party responsible for this website

The party responsible for processing data on this website is:

Peter Papcke
Beselerplatz 9
22607 Hamburg

Telephone: 040 3071 477
Email: daniel@homeofsolarenergy.com

The responsible party is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data (names, email addresses, etc.).

Revocation of your consent to the processing of your data

Many data processing operations are only possible with your express consent. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

SSL or TLS encryption

This site uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and for the protection of the transmission of confidential content, such as the inquiries you send to us as the site operator. You can recognize an encrypted connection in your browser’s address line when it changes from “http://” to “https://” and the lock icon is displayed in your browser’s address bar.

If SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data you transfer to us cannot be read by third parties.

Information, blocking, deletion

As permitted by law, you have the right to be provided at any time with information free of charge about any of your personal data that is stored as well as its origin, the recipient and the purpose for which it has been processed. You also have the right to have this data corrected, blocked or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in our legal notice if you have further questions on the topic of personal data.

3. Data collection on our website

Cookies

Some of our web pages use cookies. Cookies do not harm your computer and do not contain any viruses. Cookies help make our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser.

Most of the cookies we use are so-called “session cookies.” They are automatically deleted after your visit. Other cookies remain in your device’s memory until you delete them. These cookies make it possible to recognize your browser when you next visit the site.

You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

Cookies which are necessary to allow electronic communications or to provide certain functions you wish to use (such as the shopping cart) are stored pursuant to Art. 6 paragraph 1, letter f of DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the storage of cookies to ensure an optimized service provided free of technical errors. If other cookies (such as those used to analyze your surfing behavior) are also stored, they will be treated separately in this privacy policy.

Server log files

The website provider automatically collects and stores information that your browser automatically transmits to us in “server log files”. These are:

Browser type and browser version

Operating system used

Referrer URL

Host name of the accessing computer

Time of the server request

IP address

These data will not be combined with data from other sources.

The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.

Contact form

Should you send us questions via the contact form, we will collect the data entered on the form, including the contact details you provide, to answer your question and any follow-up questions. We do not share this information without your permission.

We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

We will retain the data you provide on the contact form until you request its deletion, revoke your consent for its storage, or the purpose for its storage no longer pertains (e.g. after fulfilling your request). Any mandatory statutory provisions, especially those regarding mandatory data retention periods, remain unaffected by this provision.

Leaving comments on this website

If you use the comment function on this site, the time at which you created the comment and your email address will be stored along with your comment, as well as your username, unless you are posting anonymously.

Storage of the IP address

Our comment function stores the IP addresses of those users who post comments. Since we do not check comments on our site before they go live, we need this information to be able to pursue action for illegal or slanderous content.

Subscribing to the comment feed

As a user of this site, you can sign up to receive the comment feed after registering. Your email address will be checked with a confirmation email. You can unsubscribe from this function at any time by clicking the link in the emails. The data provided when you subscribed to the comments feed will then be deleted, but if you have submitted this data to us for other purposes or elsewhere (such as subscribing to a newsletter), it will be retained.

How long comments are stored

The comments and the associated data (e.g. IP address) are stored and remain on our website until the content commented upon has been completely deleted or the comments are required to be removed for legal reasons (slander, etc.).

Legal basis

The comments are stored based on your consent per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

4. Social media

Share content via plugins (Facebook, Google+1, Twitter, etc.)

The content on our pages can be shared on other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, or Google+. This page uses the eRecht24 Safe Sharing Tool. This tool establishes direct contact between the networks and users only after users click on one of these buttons.

This tool does not automatically transfer user data to the operators of these platforms. If users are logged into one or more of the social networks, the Like, +1, and Share buttons for Facebook, Google+1, Twitter, etc. will display an information window in which the user can edit the text before it is sent.

Our users can share the content of this page on social networks without their providers creating profiles of users’ surfing behavior.

5. Analytics and advertising

Matomo (formerly Piwik)

This website uses the open source web analytics service Matomo. Matomo uses so-called “cookies”. These are text files that are stored on your computer and that allow an analysis of the use of the website by you. For this purpose, the information generated by the cookie about the use of this website is stored on our server. The IP address is anonymized before it is stored.

Matomo cookies remain on your device until you delete them.

The storage of Matomo cookies is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior in order to optimize both its website and its advertising.

The information generated by the cookies about your use of this website will not be disclosed to third parties. You can prevent these cookies being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website.

If you do not agree with the storage and use of your data, you can disable this feature here. In this case, an opt-out cookie will be stored in your browser to prevent Matomo from storing your usage data. If you delete your cookies, this will mean that the opt-out cookie will also be deleted. You will then need to reactivate it when you return to our site if you wish your activity not to be tracked.

Google AdSense

This website uses Google AdSense, a service for including advertisements from Google Inc. (“Google”). It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Google AdSense uses so-called “cookies”, which are text files stored in your computer that enable an analysis of the way you use the website. Google AdSense also uses so-called web beacons (invisible graphics). Through these web beacons, information such as the visitor traffic on these pages can be evaluated.

The information generated by cookies and web beacons relating to your use of this website (including your IP address), and delivery of advertising formats, is transmitted to a Google server in the US and stored there. This information can be passed on from Google to contracting parties of Google. However, Google will not merge your IP address with other data you have stored.

AdSense cookies are stored based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize both its website and its advertising.

You can prevent the installation of cookies by setting your browser software accordingly. Please be aware that in this case, you may not be able to make full use of all the features of this website. By using this website, you agree to the processing of data relating to you and collected by Google as described and for the purposes set out above.

6. Newsletter

Newsletter data

If you would like to receive our newsletter, we require a valid email address as well as information that allows us to verify that you are the owner of the specified email address and that you agree to receive this newsletter. No additional data is collected or is only collected on a voluntary basis. We only use this data to send the requested information and do not pass it on to third parties.

We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You can revoke consent to the storage of your data and email address as well as their use for sending the newsletter at any time, e.g. through the “unsubscribe” link in the newsletter. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

The data provided when registering for the newsletter will be used to distribute the newsletter until you cancel your subscription when said data will be deleted. Data we have stored for other purposes (e.g. email addresses for the members area) remain unaffected.

7. Plugins and tools

YouTube

Our website uses plugins from YouTube, which is operated by Google. The operator of the pages is YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA.

If you visit one of our pages featuring a YouTube plugin, a connection to the YouTube servers is established. Here the YouTube server is informed about which of our pages you have visited.

If you’re logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube allows you to associate your browsing behavior directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.

YouTube is used to help make our website appealing. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

Google Maps

This site uses the Google Maps map service via an API. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

To use Google Maps, it is necessary to save your IP address. This information is generally transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. The provider of this site has no influence on this data transfer.

The use of Google Maps is in the interest of making our website appealing and to facilitate the location of places specified by us on the website. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

8. Online marketing and affiliate programs

Amazon affiliate program

The site operators participating in the Amazon EU partner program. Our pages contain advertisements and links to the sites run by amazon.de through which we can earn referral fees. Amazon uses cookies to trace the origin of the orders. As a result, Amazon can detect that you clicked the affiliate link on our website.

The storage of Amazon cookies is based on Art. 6 (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in this service since it only receives credit for referral fees if these cookies are set.